Best Pediatricians And Pediatric Specialists In NYC

Whether it’s a check-up or specific concern you have in mind, all parents want the best of medical care for their children. Luckily, NYC is home to some of the most talented and dedicated doctors out there. Once again, we’ve partnered with Castle Connolly to highlight the best ones for families. This annual guide is a great resource for anyone looking for a pediatrician or a specialist. Enjoy what some of these inspiring doctors have to say about their work below, then bookmark the full directory of this year’s best of the best.

Babu Bangaru, MDNYULangoneMedicalCenterPediatric Gastroenterology

Why did you choose this specialty?

Long story! I went into pediatrics, because I liked kids. I come from India, and in India it’s very difficult to get pediatrics but I was able to. With gastroenterology, I’m interested in liver diseases, partly because my niece had a neonatal liver disease.

Any exciting breakthroughs in this field since you started your career?

I think the whole field has exploded. I’m one of the specialists, since there weren’t many fellowships when I started.

What are some of the challenges you must overcome, professionally or personally?

There are certain disorders with certain patients that don’t fit in any neat box. So that’s frustrating when you can’t say what’s going to happen or not happen. Fantasy is always more frustrating than fact, and sometimes we don’t have all the facts… That’s frustrating both for the doctor and the family.

Is there one particular moment in your career that you’re especially proud of?

One patient named their next baby after me—her middle name is Blei. That was touching. If the patient moves to another country or to a home country and they make an extra appointment to see me before they leave, that’s gratifying, too.

What should parents know about seeing a doctor in your specialty?

Earlier is always better in terms of seeing a specialist, because there’s a lot that can be done early in some patients that can ultimately lead to a much-improved outcome. Parents’ intuition is important. If they think something’s wrong, many times the parents are really right.

Any exciting breakthroughs in this field since you started your career?

Growth factors—which are proteins produced by cells that act on the cell that influence cell growth, cell division, and/or cell differentiation—have turned out to be a very important area affecting not only growth but also playing roles in cancer, bone health, and other systems in the body. Then the whole obesity epidemic and its impact on cardiovascular risk for children—all of that is totally new.

What makes you excited to go to work?

I like helping people, and when [patients] do well, it’s really exciting and rewarding. I’ve always liked interacting with children.I think children can make you feel good even when you’re feeling lousy. They have such an upbeat approach to life… When they’re really feeling baldy, there’s no question they’re down, but [with kids] there’s not the same kind of hang-ups on the changes in life that occur with illness that some adults and older individuals have. They want to do things and they want to try things, so they’re really a joy.

What are some of the challenges you must overcome, professionally or personally?

I’d say the greatest adjustment would be moving to New York. I’m from New Jersey, which isn’t too far, but my wife’s from Chicago, and I’ve trained in Los Angeles and Chicago. I’ve got two kids, a 2.5-year-old and a 1-year-old. So, balancing work with family life and living in the city, I’d say that’s probably been the biggest challenge. But then, it’s also been the greatest adventure.

What makes you excited to go to work?

I tell this to my wife all the time. I think I’ve got the best job in the country. I do little things that make kids feel a lot better, and it’s great to go home at the end of the day feeling great about what you’ve done.

What’s something parents should know about your specialty, in regards to getting their child tested or seen by a doctor?

Always pay attention to your child and how he or she is breathing. Whether it’s during the day or at night, if there’s any sort of warning sign, get evaluated. If anything lasts longer than two weeks as far as breathing issues are concerned, get it evaluated. Go to your pediatrician, go to your ENT, and really get to the bottom of things.

Well, it was my dad [Harold Neu’s] specialty. He became the chief of the infectious disease division here [at Columbia] in 1971. So, I’ve always been around it and I’ve walked these halls as a child. When he died while I was in school at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, I had to come home—and decided this is where I should be, with my family.

What’s something parents should know about your specialty, in regards to getting their child tested or seen by a doctor?

Not every parent necessarily has to see us. In fact, we usually refer patients to other specialties. A tic isn’t always an infectious disease. And it’s okay to swallow some dirt; it’s good for you. In my house, we have the three-second rule. Kids are too sanitized these days.

Part of it was that it was so interesting! And I had a mother with a heart disease since childhood and had the complications involved. When I was growing up, I watched this go on and I decided that I was going to go into this field to help people with similar problems. When I got older, it just became a fascinating field in which you could make a difference.

What’s something that people would be surprised is part of your job?

Most of what goes into my practice is not commonly known to the general public, because it’s a very specialized area. Most people who don’t have experience with oncology don’t have any idea what kind of side effects are caused or what has to be done to prevent or ameliorate the effects of this toxicity. So it’s something that is very different from general pediatrics and regular pediatric cardiology.

Is there one particular moment you’re especially proud of?

It would be hard to isolate one. I’m certainly especially happy when I get to go to the weddings of some of our patients, especially the ones who’ve had cardiac issues, and I’ve been able to make a difference. That’s probably the highlight, going to special moments in the life of the patients and celebrating.

I’ve always worked in New York City, and New York City has a huge number of asthmatics. It’s one of the greatest concentrations of asthmatics in the country, as compared to other cities like L.A. or Chicago. And I myself have a lot of asthma and allergies, so I was already interested in the field and I figured I could learn a bit more about it from the inside, so to speak. So that’s probably a little bit of a selfish reason, but I also wanted to help out the city I worked in.

What makes you excited to go to work every day?

I think that when we finally teach a family who has not been letting their kid ice skate or play soccer that, “Hey, you can play soccer and ice skate if you use these medications,” that’s very exciting, because kids want to be active. I think kids want to participate. That’s a huge service to the kid going out to play. So just showing them the medications and the correct way of using them and giving them something chronic, perhaps during soccer season, to get them out there and active. The parents love it; it also helps regarding any possible weight issues of obesity, and the kid can do what he loves! It’s very satisfying. You get an immediate result in terms of the kid being able to go out and play and keep up with his friends.

Have there been any exciting breakthroughs in the field since you started your career?

With food allergies, currently there is no treatment or cure. The management is strict avoidance of the food allergens that you’re allergic to and also being prepared with emergency medications such as self-injectable epinephrine in case there’s an accidental exposure. However, in recent years, there’s been a lot of research looking at potential treatments for food allergies, and it’s actually quite an exciting time to be in the field. We at Mount Sinai are involved in investigating several of these types of therapies through clinical trials.

Do you have any anecdotes that show why you love your specialty?

Generally just seeing all our families when they’ve achieved even minor successes in normal everyday life, in terms of when the child enters school or they go to [day] camp or sleep away camp or travel outside of the New York area for the first time. Hearing those stories really makes me happy that we’re able to help these children and their families beyond just educating them about: “This is your food allergy and this is what you need to do.”

Joking and teasing with the children. We’re very light and try to make their visits fun. We’ll easily “gang up” against the parents and tease the parents. And my practice is unique [in that] I don’t see everyone by myself. I have a partner who is actually a nurse practitioner; her name is Patty McGoldrick. I’d like to say I got the Top Doctor [distinguishment] by myself but I really didn’t. She’s been my partner for 14 years, so I can only take credit for half of what I do.

Do you have any anecdotes that show why you love your specialty?

When you have a kid who’s been seizing every day or one or two times a week, none of the medicines are working, we’ve done surgery on them, and the kid isn’t even walking—then the kid comes back two months later and walks into your office. It’s the most rewarding thing. It’s those kind of moments. Then Patty and I look at each other and go, “This is why we do this.”

What’s something parents should know about your specialty, in regards to getting their child tested or seen by a doctor?

Here’s a really good one: Not every headache is a brain tumor. In fact, it’s very, very rare. But, if the headaches persist, go see a neurologist.

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